Who should perform Hijama?

The following is an article from Dr Rizwhan Suleman (Mchiro) of Hijama Centres UK. The opinions discussed and expressed in the article are entirely the authors, and sharing the article on the blog does not necessarily mean we agree to everything being discussed therein in its entirely.

Who should perform Hijama?

Who should replace the Barber Surgeon of the 1800’s?

This is a question that is widely discussed, debated and even argued about in the practical sphere of hijama (wet-cupping) therapy. Is hijama something that should be exclusively practiced by qualified doctors or is it something that can be done at home by family members and lay people alike? This is a question that patients and practitioners are continuously asking.

What is at stake?

Firstly, it must be highlighted that our health, whether we recognize it or not, is our greatest possession, second to only one thing, our spirituality (imaan). These two assets are entrusted to us by Allah and when combined they amount to more than any amount of wealth that any human being can possess on the face of the earth. Once this basic principle is understood, the gravity of placing this trust (amaanah) in the hands of someone else can truly be fathomed.

As hijama is a method of treatment that can have an influence on both ones physical and spiritual health, the importance of deciding on who can, and who can not, be entrusted with these assets is a serious matter.

How do we decide?

In all cases which we go to seek advice, help or assistance from another person, we knowingly or unknowingly put our trust in them in some shape or form. When we go to a mechanic to fix or service our car we entrust them with our vehicle. We go to an accountant to manage our accounts and we entrust them with our financial affairs. We go to a plumber to maintain or improve our boiler and we entrust him with it. In all these cases we are entrusting an individual with an asset and there are always risks that we may lose that asset or that it may become damaged beyond repair. This relative risk is taken by the person entrusting the asset, only after making some basic judgments, “Is this person competent in the task that I am entrusting them with? How proficient is their knowledge in the subject area? Are they of trustworthy?” And so on.

Many of these judgments are made on a daily basis by each of us and are based on some principles of common sense. When we seek advice in any area we would always prefer to go to the person who has the most knowledge, understanding and competence in that field. This is also an Islamic principle as Allah the almighty says ‘Ask the people of Knowledge if you do not know’ (Quran 16:43). This is why we do not go to an accountant to fix our car, or to a plumber to do our accounts. Although the plumber may be a nice person, be punctual with his prayers, be good with numbers and be willing to take on the extra work, it is obvious that he lacks the many years of training to take on a public limited company’s (Plc) accounts and do it as effectively as a chartered accountant. The risk for failure in this task is obviously greater with the plumber than with the accountant.

The obvious choice.

When dealing with our health it is obvious that we go to the people who have the most knowledge and understanding of health and fully appreciate how the body works. This is why we call the paramedics when we are having a heart attack and not the builder. Although this is obvious, there are many factors related to the practice of hijama that can make the subject of the ‘obvious choice’ somewhat unclear. This lack of clarity has allowed many people with or without adequate healthcare training to take up this practice. One of the major reasons for this is that other than being a healthcare intervention, hijama is also considered a religious practice. However, some may argue and point out that circumcision is also a religious practice and yet it is almost always performed by a medical doctor.

If you were given the choice of a qualified dentist or a renowned barber to remove your wisdom teeth, you would clearly choose the dentist, not only because he has more experience but because you know that he will have a detailed understanding of how your whole body works and therefore, in theory, there should be less risk of a complication during or following the procedure. In the famous hadith narrated by Tirmidhi, Allah’s messenger (PBUH) told the bedouin to tie his camel and then put his trust in Allah. This means that we are responsible for taking all precautions and avoiding risks where possible with our life choices.

Would you take a risk if it could be avoided?

From both the Islamic perspective as well as a rational point of view, when such a valuable asset as health is at stake there should be no risks or chances taken if they can be avoided. By ensuring that you are entrusting your health in the hands of someone who has dedicated many years of study in the field of health such as a doctor, you are taking the initial steps in minimizing the risk of harming the physical health that Allah has entrusted to you. In an ideal world the people that we would all go to for hijama therapy should be trained and qualified health professionals who

have studied health and medicine and also have a good understanding of how hijama works with both its physical and spiritual applications.

The need

With a growing awareness of prophetic medical practice and a global religious revival many people are turning to hijama as a means of gaining physical and spiritual benefit. Coupled with statistics that demonstrate minority groups in the west as having the poorest level of health, hijama is now something that is of great need and demand. If given the choice people would almost always choose to be treated by a qualified and trained health professional but this option is often not available.

The Problem.

Very few health professionals trained in a field of medicine appreciate, understand and unfortunately in some cases, believe in hijama. The root of this problem lies deep within the history of Muslim physicians practicing medicine. Unfortunately the abandonment of hijama as a mainstream medical practice took place not only in the western world in the late 1800’s but also by what were then mainstream medical practitioners in the Muslim world too. The compliance of every single Muslim physician from that era until today in the neglect of this sacred prophetic medical practice and religious instruction is what has allowed the procedure to become dis-attached from the medical professions and an alienated practice today.

Who is responsible?

The historical survival and current revival of hijama has to be accredited to none other than the traditional practitioners and the lay people who have kept the practice alive until now. It is these people alone who saved this practice from being a forgotten ritual myth through the many years of neglect from other fields. It is also these people more often than not who are responsible for introducing, and in some cases even teaching the concepts of hijama to health professionals. Although many become angered at the thought of untrained hands performing what is considered in a medical context a minor surgery, they must realize that blame does not lie with the lay practitioners. If hijama had been kept within the sphere of mainstream medical practice by Muslim physicians during the time of its demise in the western world, it could have been preserved as a medical procedure in its appropriate clinical context without the need of lay people having to take it into their own hands. Similarly, it could be argued that if the dental profession hand not been embraced by the medical world and recognized as an integrated part of health care, barbers would still be pulling out teeth today in the same way as they did in the past.Many will agree that eradication of the profession does not result in the eradication of its need.

Who can we turn to?

The situation we are currently in provides us with practitioners of scientifically backed understandings of health and medicine with no or very little understanding and practical skills in hijama therapy. On the other hand it provides us with practitioners with a wealth of experience in the practical skills of hijama and some understanding based on anecdotal experience but with no or very little understanding of health and medicine and in some cases of infection control too.

Layman Vs Professional

Given the situation we are in, it may be the case that hijama treatment provided by a doctor with little experience may not give the best possible results as it will require time for him/her to build up a bank of clinical experience and understanding to treat clinically diagnosed cases in the best possible way. This is something that all health professionals have the capacity to build if given the opportunity through clinical contact, communication and mentorship with other practitioners. This scenario also allows the implementation of a screening process in which patients not suitable for hijama or with possibly more serious conditions can be referred to other areas of healthcare and specialty in the appropriate time frame, therefore allowing for the improvement of the patient’s health as a whole.

The second scenario entails an experienced but lay practitioner providing treatment that may or may not be effective depending on his/her ability and experience, but may potentially risk the patient’s health due to their lack of understanding of some fundamental principles in medicine such as blood volume, pressure and infection control. There is also a chance that the practitioner may lack the ability to recognize pathological processes or symptom patterns which may put the patient at greater risk of not receiving the correct treatment in the correct time frame. Although this may not always be the case, as many practitioners are competent in these areas, there is still no standard in terms of the level of training, education and understanding required by the therapists making it practically impossible to determine who can safely practice hijama.

Towards finding a solution

The solution to this problem may seem apparently obvious; either the lay practitioners of hijama increase their understanding of health and medicine to include anatomy, physiology, pathology, infection control and general diagnosis in order to manage patients in a primary care setting or Muslim doctors actively re-embrace this practice as an integrated part of medical care, thus allowing patients to receive the best possible treatments in the safest possible setting. There are however many obstacles and hurdles that make both of these solutions impractical and extremely challenging ambitions.

Firstly in order to provide training for lay practitioners to undergo a course in medical science it would require the establishment of sophisticated and organize

d teaching institutions with dedicated staff that are able to provide full time teaching to full time students. Considering many of these practitioners undertake hijama on a part-time basis or as a hobby, this would appear to be problematic from the onset as the level of commitment to be trained to a primary healthcare standard would be lacking in many of the candidates, not to mention the financial implications of such training. Another problem would be the requirement of some form of regulation through legislation in order to allow these practitioners to be recognized as primary care providers. Even to the most hardline protagonists of this goal within the field, it would appear to be an extremely difficult task to achieve, especially in the western world.

The admittedly more practical way of attaining the most competent hijama practitioners would be to teach doctors and health professionals already trained to work in a primary health care setting. This solution is by far the most feasible option but unfortunately can not be achieved without difficulties.

Firstly, there is a fundamental lack of belief in the practice of hijama among many Muslim health professionals globally. Sadly, hijama has been described by many Muslim physicians as being, “outdated”, “unscientific” and even “medieval”. These statements have obviously been made out of shear ignorance and without reviewing both the religious or scientific literature.

Of the practitioners who have religious conviction in the practice there is also a practical hindrance. Many are engaged in full time practice as consultants, GPs, dentists, opticians, physiotherapists etc. This prevents these health professionals from taking the basic skills of hijama learnt through training and turning them into clinical experience. Not only is there a time element to this problem, there is also an issue with financial compatibility. If a health professional is to take time out to work as a hijama practitioner he/she would need to be paid the equivalent wage in order for the work to be both feasible and sustainable. This wage could range from £40-£300 per hour depending on the professionals specialty and cannot always be matched by the fees a hijama patient would be expecting to pay.

If this issue was overcome and a health professional came to a satisfactory rate of pay, it would require a degree of business acumen and organizational skill not accustomed to all health professionals to make the situation work. As hijama is currently a practice that is in the private health sector, health professionals would need the motivation, dedication and capital to set up their own practices in order to have a widely available service. The time and commitment involved in such a task would almost certainly require a compromise of the individual’s regular duties or occupation. These factors are some of the reasons why very few health professionals trained in hijama are capable of offering services on a full time basis.

The Current Situation

With almost no qualified health professionals openly and consistently providing this service as a result of the issues listed above, traditional practitioners and lay people alike are increasingly taking the opportunity to meet the demands of the people.

This in the short term can be seen as a positive outcome as the need of the patients is met and the lay practitioners are often receiving income equal to or greater than that which they would be generating from their usual occupations. Although the intentions of the practitioners and the patients may be correct to begin with, inevitably the risks are greater than what may have initially been perceived. In such situations mishaps, accidents and mistakes are inevitably going to occur. Qualified professionals are not void of faults or infallible in any way but the liability is greater with the untrained person as they actively take greater risks simply by not having a detailed understanding of how the body works and what the consequences of their actions may have on each patient. This understanding is demonstrated to be one of concurrence with Islamic teachings as the Prophet (pbuh) stated; “Those who practice tibb (medicine), but are not Knowledgeable in this profession are responsible for their actions.” Narrated by Abu Dawud.

At this juncture, it may be noteworthy to highlight potential underlying ethical issues in the practice of hijama due to the fact that there are no governing bodies or institutions for patients to go to in the event of necessity. Cases in which practitioners overstep boundaries or misuse their position of trust and authority for personal and/or financial gain are now becoming common place in the UK.

When dealing with health professionals patients do have some security in this regard as practitioners are in most cases bound by their individual governing bodies and ethical codes which require both criminal record checks and mental health declarations before registration. In the event of misconduct there are significant consequences for the practitioners and their careers are potentially at stake providing a huge deterrent to foul play.

Unfortunately in the cases of non-professionals practicing hijama there is no safeguard for patients whatsoever and members of the public are left vulnerable to being mislead, overcharged and exploited with relatively no consequence to the practitioner. In extreme cases patients are being diagnosed with spiritual ailments such as “possessions”, “black magic” and “jinn” even though the practitioners have no authority or qualification (ijazah) to give such diagnosis in these fields. Regrettably, hijama itself is being used as a medium for diagnosis and predictable physiological reactions to poor patient management such as fainting, nausea and vomiting are being used as proof of supernatural interventions. Practitioners have even been reported to claim that bubbles, steam and/or streaks in the cups are also signs of such diseases even though these phenomena can be intentionally created on demand with very little effort. Although the majority of lay practitioners in the UK may be practicing with good intentions and are God fearing (have taqwa) it must be highlighted that this is the furthest extent to their liability.

< span style=”font-family: Arial, serif;”>Unfortunately what we are left with is a situation in which the best medicine known to mankind is not readily accessible to patients unless they are willing to make a compromise and seek care from individuals with an unknown level of competence or efficacy, effectively taking a gamble with their health and on occasions substantial proportions of their wealth. This issue is one factor that stops many people from resorting to this prophetic practice and receiving its benefits and astonishing results.

A Practical Solution:

A practical solution to the current problem must involve both the lay practitioners and health professionals in a way that is most beneficial to the patients while being sustainable for the providers.

Clinic set ups that allow health professionals to work within a team of lay practitioners would be ideal as this would allow patients to be assessed, screened and managed by an appropriately qualified and regulated health professional whilst allowing the treatments to be administered by a hijama technician (lay practitioner) under guidance. Appropriate training in screening, clinical hygiene and safe practice could improve the efficiency of the practice and could gradually include the implementation of a triage system that allows the more experienced hijama technicians to take on a partial role in the management of straight forward cases whilst referring all other cases on for consultation with the primary health care practitioner.

This set up not only allows the health professional the capacity to simultaneously manage a larger number of patients making it more financially sustainable but also embraces the lay hijama practitioners into a professional clinical setting in which they can comfortably practice with the support of a qualified health professional. Similar setups are seen in hospital wards in which doctors and nurses develop relationships in which they both complement and learn from each other whilst maintaining separate and distinct roles.

When void of the ability to refer on to a health professional, lay practitioners practicing alone are left in positions where they are expected to have knowledge or treat conditions beyond their scope of training, understanding and practice. Such situations either results in a humble and considerate practitioner refusing to treat complicated cases or an ignorant and over confident practitioner taking on the case and risking the health of the patient.

In situations where there are not facilities in place to offer such a structured system of care, a pairing or mentoring provision should be arranged so that lay practitioners are not left in situations where they feel pressured to practice or manage patients beyond their scope. Even if this scheme would involve a fee that the lay practitioner pays for the support, it would be within the interest of both the practitioners, patients and the health professionals to work together, as it would increase patient safety, practitioner credibility and reduce the chance of major errors or mishaps that could adversely tarnish the profession as a whole. The system itself could be a form of self regulation as each professional would have a pool of practitioners that they had contact with and the responsibility of mentoring. This inadvertently has the potential to create a degree of accountability as if there was to be a complaint against the practitioner it could be made to their corresponding mentor, allowing an avenue for complaints to be addressed, investigated and resolved. A degree of standardization could also be implemented at this level by ensuring that all practitioners underwent a basic standard of training provided by the mentor and covering essentials in infection control, first aid, patient screening and record keeping.

Standardization

Unfortunately the majority of hijama training providers and courses both in the UK and abroad do not supply a follow-up or mentoring structure to their training, leaving the newly qualified practitioners alone to manage complicated patient cases without any guidance. Unfortunately, the majority of these courses are designed/created by individuals with no health backgrounds whatsoever hence the void of any clinical reasoning and lack of emphasis on medical science, pathophysiology, clinical anatomy or diagnosis. Even at the level of verification, there is currently no register or available database of people qualified through a particular organization to check and verify claims of qualification, to many, this makes the actual courses themselves worth very little on both the level of knowledge and credibility.

In order for there to be a platform on which both health professionals and lay practitioners can work together, there needs to be a mutual understanding and recognition by which both parties recognize and learn from the skills of each other. Ideally, a standardized protocol of practice needs to be adopted so that there is a framework to the techniques and methods employed as part of the hijama therapy. Once this is established the safety and screening guidelines need to be laid down by the health professional and patient management methods can be discussed and arranged between the two practitioners depending on their level of experience.

In concluding, the importance of mutual cooperation by all stake holders in the field of hijama can not be overemphasized. Only through this conjoined effort can the hijama profession progress in its knowledge, practice and understanding.

May Allah Grant us all the ability and sincerity to take this practice forward in the best possible manner and revive this sunnah, providing benefit to the people for the sake of pleasing Allah. Ameen.

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Our thanks to Hijama Centres UK, from UK for sharing the above post. If you have any questions or want to leave some feedback for them, then please do so via a comment* below.

If you are a hijama therapist or patient and are happy to share your knowledge or experience via a guest blog-post like the one above, please send me an email to: hijama.mail@gmail.com.

*Comments are moderated to prevent spamming so may take some time to appear

I would like to extend my deepest gratitude and appreciation for this excellent article by Dr.Rizwhan,which is one of the very few sincere attempts i have seen in bridging the gap between where Hijama currently is, and where it should be..I have researched Hijama for more than 10 years now and have put out a book on it, and given numerous lectures on it, yet as an Agri-Engineer i never dared to perform it, not have i ever condoned having it performed by any one other than a Medical Doctor, in fact i have continuously fought against lay people doing it. I have a different solution to what Dr.Rizwhan offered, which i have seen produce somewhat good results here in Egypt, which is to try and target the Religious and Pious Medical Doctors, those are more willing to learn it and practice it, and i have seen some of them do it early mornings away from their clinic hours, and am currently fighting with the Egyptian Administration to have it taught to Medical Students in Med Schools as part of their curriculum, however if we were to try and have both the Lay man and the Doctor work together as suggested, this will only result in more interaction and friction and problems as both will always be defensive and not willing to learn or share their experience with the other person. Thank you and all the best

Thanks a lot for your continuous information on Hijama Therapy. It's been three years we are in touch through your official website.Its been a nice journey so far.I have gained so much of knowledge on Hijama Therapy just because of you.

As far as my personal opinion is concerned about who can perform Hijamah Therapy, my personal opinion is only professional doctors and trained Paramedics should perform Hijamah therapy, other non-medical persons should not perform hijamah, because these people do not have medical background and the knowledge of Anatomy and Physiology of the human body. Just merely knowing the procedure of Hijamah therapy is not enough. One should always take aseptic precaution for this therapy. And what if the patient has vasovagal attack or faint while undergoing Hijamah because first 5 minutes are very crucial for the patient. Only a doctor will be able to handle such situations, and won't have any medico-legal problems. If any non-medical person performs the therapy and God forbid if the patient have vasovagal attack then who will resuscitate the patient. And this person who is performing Hijamah will be in big trouble.

At my clinic several non-medical people come to me and ask me for the training of Hijamah Therapy but I gently turn them down because somewhere in my mind I have doubt that they wont take that much aseptic precaution what I am taking at my clinic. I even don't charge any fees for doing Hijamah at my clinic, it is patient's wish whatever Hadiyah they want to pay they can pay I won't ask for the fees.In the last 3 years I have performed about 600 Hijamah treatments at my clinic and I am very happy with the result of this therapy. I am also giving training to doctors for Hijamah therapy.

This therapy is a part of Regimenal Therapy of Unani (Greek) System of Medicine.So I already know about this therapy.

WassalamI hope you all are well. I think good question this one.In my personal opinion those who are in the Medical background, they are the suitable persons to perform hijama. Because they would know well about the human body structure, meaning anatomy and physiology. Thank youKind regardsMusthaq Nizar

Thank you for sending me email. Regarding my background of hijama,I started hijama in mid-2010 in Karachi, Pakistan.

At the end of my two years course of Taufseer e Quran and Fiqa,it was May or June 2010, there was an announcement from Madrassa that a team of doctors was coming to introduce to us HIJAMA, and they told us, if anyone wanted to do hijama then we must be fasting for at least for 4 hours and perform two raqat salah,and gave little introduction about Hijama.

I was very excited, that was the first time I heard about hijama. I was suffering from knee arthritis and back pain since 10 years and was on pain killers. There were about 20 candidates who got prepared on the spot including me. I tried to find more about hijama on internet. I came across many hadiths and also many websites. Thank you for Hijamanation.com and ahealth.co.uk and many others.

And the day came, there was a team of four doctors.They gave us detailed introduction of hijama, and announced if anyone wanted to join them to revive the sunnah, they would train them. After my hijama I felt very much light, though it was little painful for me on that time might be because of my illness.But it was miracle. After 15 days I again did hijama on my knees and back, and gave my name to them as trainee.

Gradually I stopped all my pain killers and felt myself more mobile.In September 2010 I came to visit my daughter in Dubai.I told them about hijama and decided to visit any hijama center in Dubai. We went to Sharjah for this, my daughter and son-in-law done hijama,that was new experience for me.

Then I got a chance of attending a workshop in Alif Academy in Newham London,it was 3rd March 2011, when I went to visit my daughter in Lewisham London.

I met with Hijamanation team, especially with Mrs Missbah and glad to know that she belonged to Kashmir, that made me more closer to hijama. My son-in-law (my second son-in-law) was observing me and my interest in hijama, he brought a book for me of Dr Tamer. That was new for me because there were acupuncture points in that book. So I decided to work on it when I reached my homeland. I gave that book to my teacher she appreciated it and gave me other books and papers on acupuncture and the internet was the best source for me.So we started work on internet also. Till now we deal with many patients, who are very much satisfied with hijama and they are the best source of motivating others.

Who should perform Hijama?Regarding your question, I must say that both traditional therapists and medical doctors must go hand in hand supporting and complementing each other, because day by day new researches are coming on screen, which benefits us a lot. But we cannot deny experiences and knowledge we get from them.

Now how to spread this in world is very much challenging. In my opinion media is the main source we can use for this and workshops benefits us a lot.

Salams. Hope you will be fine. Many people are doing hijama in Pakistan. In big cities like Karachi, Lahore they might be doctors, but they also learned it from religious persons. They learned it from Arabs who are the pioneers of hijama. As I saw it in my own small city Kohat, doctors come to learn hijama from my teacher who is a religious person and had done more then 30,000 patients. Even though doctors came for hijama as well, I learned hijama from him and still working with him. So in small cities it's well known to most of them and in others it is getting to be famous. Regards. Abu Ahmed(Syed Aamir)

Thank you so much for all the goodness you are doing around you in the field of natural therapies and especially Hijama!

I think the traditional practitioner who is very well trained, who masters sterilization at his work, has a great skill, and a wealth of knowledge about Symptoms, Anatomy, Pathology, is best qualified to practice Hijama …

But this does not exclude that a very good Doctor ,also well trained in the techniques of Hijama and gives his patients the time needed for a Hijama well done, and not made hastily; can also practice Hijama, if the code of ethics of the Order of Doctors in his Country allows this!!!

So ,that brings us to say ,in these conditions only they should work hand in hand and complementing each other…

THANKS FOR ASKING MY OPINION. I MYSELF AM AN MBBS DOCTOR SPECIALIZED IN THE FIELD OF OPHTHALMOLOGY. I AM PARTICULARLY INTERESTED IN SCIENTIFIC BASIS OF HIJAMA ON WHICH I HAVE ALSO GATHERED SOME THEORIES ABOUT ITS MEDICAL BASIS IN MY BLOG AT SOHAILCUPPINGGLOBSPOT.COM

MY VIEWS ARE:

AS CUPPING IS SUNNAH SO IT SHOULD BE PRACTISED BY AN EXPERT.

NOWADAYS MEDICAL BACKGROUND IS A MUST . A DOCTOR OR AN ACUPUNCTURIST CAN DO BETTER HIJAMA THAN OTHERS.

SO ON INTERNATIONAL LEVEL ONE MUST BE EQUIPPED WITH SOUND SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE. FOR A LAYMAN A TRADITIONAL THERAPIST MAY SUFFICE BUT IF WE WANT TO INTRODUCE THIS SUNNAH TO THE WORLD ONE MUST BE HIGHLY QUALIFIED

I have been practicing hijama for the last 5 years and cupped about 300 people I believe. First I started off in Cardiff in Wales, but now continue doing it in Geneva, Switzerland, where I will be based for the next 3 years due to study commitments. In Switzerland is a huge demand, even many people from the neighbouring France ask me for Hijama.

There is just nobody who offers this service. Also, many Muslims, let alone non-Muslims are unaware of the powerful healing effect of hijama, with Allah's will.

I believe that hijama should only be performed by qualified practitioners. If they are GPs at the same time, than that may be an advantage. However, it should be kept in mind that Hijama is an alternative way of treating illnesses and opposes orthodox healing methods, where the symptoms of fever, for example, are just numbed by giving painkillers to the patients and not by really helping them as this is done with hijama.

I strongly am of the opinion that hijama should be used and propagated/explained more often everywhere.

I think both, but the traditional therapist must be taught and should also learn how to do Hijama without any risk of Hepatitis or Aids to himself and to the patient. So he should take all precautionary measures as advised in modern medicine.And both of them should help each other to understand better and implement better.We should have joint workshops

I read the article with a great deal of interest and I agree absolutely with the sentiments of the writer. Indeed it's rather the point I made for the blog I wrote for your site. I am very concerned that there is an urgency and much importance that we should absolutely trust the ability of the person who is performing hijama on us and in turn they should be qualified and experienced to a level that exudes professionalism aquired by experience. Mentoring new practitioners by more experienced practitioners would surely help the cause. InshaALLAH!

At the time of Prophet (Salla ALLAH Alaihi Wa Sallam) Hijamah was not a profession and was not done only by doctors. However Hijamah, I still believe should be performed by a Muslim who understand perfectly the Sunnah and conditions set for by our beloved Prophet Mohammed (Salla ALLAH Alaihi Wa Sallam), and more importantly have a strong belief that the Curer is only and only ALLAH. Jazaaka ALLAH Khieran.

Hijama is a part of unani system of medicine which is full time 5yrs medical course in India.

The concept of Hijama is based on Humoral theory of unani system of medicine. Hence based on it the fluid which is extracted can also act as an diagnostic tool. According to Humoral concept. there are four different fluids which are extracted during the process of Hijama & diseases were diagnosed by the imbalances in these four humours. Dam i.e Blood, Balgam- Phlegm, Safra- Acid or Bile, Sauda- Melancholic humour or black bile. based on the domination humour comming out during the process of hijama. the internal diseases are diagnosed.

So officially for hijama in Arab world & in countries like U.K , U.S, germany, south africa etc etc the health ministries are accepting unani medical professionals as the qualified professionals for performing Hijama.

Assalam o aliykum, After gone through the article of Dr Rizwhan sb it seems to me that dr sb is not aware with the hostory of medicine. He discussing every thing with inter mixing the muslim religion. Firstly I will comment that when doesn't have any degree of religion of islam than he does'nt have any right to intermix Islam with Hijjam therapy (as per his view). Secondly it feels that he has forgetten that our Prophet (PBUH) was Ummmi , So should we not follow what he said or did ? (Nauzubillah). Thirdly those who have introduced the world about medical system like Abu Ali Seena, Hkm Jalinoos,Buqrat,Abul Qasim Zuhravi do not have any degree of medical Science. So we will suppose them as quack ???. For dr Rizwan information in unani system of medicine the Hijjam therapy is very well defined since decades where this was done by the then well trained religious muslim persons. Then it has been transformed by them to their students . Now as the days has changed and a system is maintained it become a part of it. Everything is not required changes. In todays era where we have powerful electronic microcope the modern fails to tell anyones normal exact unit of the basic test like hb TLC, DLC etc still there is a range of the normal values. Which totally in accordance to the temperamental theory of the unani medicine. Although I do not support to anyone who complete theorical or practical training of the subject. But if anything exist after so decades that it works if this is in the hand of unqualified person than the qualified person should not hesitate to come forward and get the training of the from these unqualified people so as they can better utilise it and better serve the humanity instead of criticing the people or system.. And please dont mix the religion with this.

And if anyone know about it they were afraid to make hijama but I am trying my best to spread knowledge about hijama but there is a big problem of language here. People who live here they only know Portuguese .

As salam alecom wa rhematullahi va barkatahu,respected janab Shuaib .Sir i am really thanking you that you think I'm able to give an esteemed hijama therapy opinion,It's an honor for me, hijama is mashaAllah great therapy.it can be used both, medical doctors as well as traditional therapist too, but they should be well knowledgeable, and experienced. Nowadays I see in every second street they is one hijama clinic in India, I dont think that all are well knowledgeable in hijama therapy. So in my opinion, we should take responsibility to make them aware what real hijama is, and how it works on the human body, how the toxins are removed from the blood thru wet cupping, which acupoints are related to which disease, this basic knowledge all therapists need to know, in my opinion, in this medical field, patient always satisfy with us if any one patient does not feel satisfied it means we are blaming the great hijama therapy, inshaAllah hijama future is good, in coming days. Sorry if I said anything wrong but it's just my opinionthank u sir

Then lets get some Portuguese translators. People should learn about this treatment and spread it throughout the world. People deserve to be healthy. I speak a little Portuguese and am fluent in English. If I can help or get someone to help please let me know.

Assalamu Alaikum,I have below to share with the forum.I have visited a Hajjaam (Hijamah therapist) yesterday, I watched him performing Hijama on three people. While two of them went through it nicely, the third gentleman also finished.While the Hajjaam was cleaning the blood from incisions, suddenly the 3rd patient got stiff and fell on the Hajjaam. His eyes went up where I could not see his eyeball for few moments. He was so stiff and did not move. Those moments were so strong and exhausting.Hajjaam started reciting Azaan loudly while tapping on his shoulder, the usual calm and cool Hajjaam was not there, instead his voice became heavy and loud.I was watching the Hajjaam carefully, he got hold of Mahjoom with his hands and sprinkled zamzam on his face. While the therapist was reciting Azaan, the mahjoom looked at his face and a dangerous smile was there. His smile was different, cuz Mahjoom was not in his senses. (he never knew what was going on, he himself told me later that I did not know what happened to me for last Five mints after its done). I am not sure why he looked at Hajjaam’s face and smiled but got to tell you that you need a lot of courage to hold mahjoom in that condition and bring him to normal senses. Trust me that whole episode was so engrossing that I could not sleep the whole night.Now this brings a question Who can do Hijama ??Only qualified medical doctors ?OrThe people whom Allah has blessed with knowledge?May Allah bless & protect all the Hajjaams.

JazakAllah for sharing such an amazing Hijamah session incidents. Even I have shared such moments which I witnessed while performing Hijamah.

I don’t think that only qualified Dr must do Hijamah… because even qualified Dr. would not be able to manage with such situation. I agree that people whom Allah blessed with the knowledge of Deen should do Hijamah. However, I think a common man who is interested to do Hijamah… it would be rather nice if he possesses good knowledge of Deen and Holy Quran he must believe in Amal e Salehat, so that he could control such situation.

Dear Shoaib thanks for updating,Who should perform Hijama?Both should perform hijama,becoz both have a different experience of hijama, I'm telling u my experience of many years about hijama,I trained five doctors on how to perform hijama, even they didn't know how to suction the cup, its true doctors have a great knowledge of medical line, but they didn't know about hijama, even they didn't know how to cut at the cup point,look hijama is a different line, but if a doctor knows and studied about hijama then he would better practicing against a therapist or a practitioner, but a traditional therapist also have a good knowledge of how to perform hijama, he knows about the points of different diseases,how to suction the cup,how to cut at point, but in the end I want to say that both should have perform hijama but firstly they need to attend the workshops,and first they have to learn and complete the studies about Hijama, Azhar Ali sahito/Abdul MajidD.M.S.S (TibbeNabawi)Hijama Specialist Expert in Alternative Medicine. Karachi, Pakistan.